Ladder.



I. E. $11003. LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1911.

1,090,241, Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

I I Z Witness s I Attorneys IRVIN E. SHOOP, OF ELIZABETHTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

LADDER.

inseam.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 20, 1911.

Patented Mar. 1t, 1914.

Serial No. 622,319.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IRVIN E. Snoor, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elizabethtown, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Ladder, 01 which the following is a specification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a flexible ladder of novel and improved form, adapted to be used primarily, although not exclusively, as a part of a tire escape.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceec s, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional. elevation of a building, showing the ladder of my invention applied thereto, and positioned for use; Fig. 2 is a fragmental horizontal section upon the line A-B of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section upon the line CD of Fig. 1; Fig. 41 is a longitudinal section of one of the rungs of the ladder, showing the cables which constitute the stiles of the ladder, assembled with the rung; Fig. 5 is a transverse section upon the line EF of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a section upon the line G-H of Fig. l; and Fig. 7 is an end view of one of the rungs.

In the drawings, the supporting structure is shown in the form of a portion of a building 1, having a window opening 2. Outstanding from the supporting structure 1, adjacent the base of the window opening 2, is a bracket 1. A flexible ladder 6 is provided, the inner end of which is secured to the building 1, within the same. lVhen the device is in use, the ladder 6 is extended outwardly, over the upper face of the bracket 1, and connected with a tightening device 12, secured to the building 1, below the opening 2.

The ladder 6 which is employed in connection with the structure hereinbefore described, is of novel and improved construction. Each of the rungs 11 is a tubular structure, and in the end walls 20 of the rungs 11. there are openings 21., seen most clearly in Fig. 7. In fashioning the stiles oil the ladder, the cables 22 and 23 are pro vided. Noting Fig. 1, it will be seen that the cable 22 is extended through the uppermost opening 21 in one end of the rung .11, and thence is carried through the rung 11 longitudinally, the cable 22 being passed oi'itwardly through the lowermost opening 21 in the opposite end 031' the rung. The cable 23 is carried inwardly through the uppermost opening 21 in this last named end of the rung, the cable 23 being thence carried through the interior of the rung and passed outwardly through the lowermost opening 21 in the opposite end of the rung. The construction, therefore, is such that the cables 22 and 23 are crossed upon each other, as shown at 21, within the rung 1.1.

At each. end of the rung 11, a securing member, preferably a wire, threaded transversely through the cables 22 and 23, as shown at 3 1. The free ends 01 the securing members are then wound transversely about the cables and 23, as shown at 25, the ends of the securing members being carried inwardly, through the openings 21, as denoted by the numeral 20 in Fig. l. The wrappings thus provided, at the ends of the rung ll, prevent a sliding movement of the rung upon the cables 22 and 23 which constitute the stiles oi the ladder. Links 27 surround the cables 22 and 23 transversely, beyond the wrappings hereinbel ore referred to. These links 27 obviously, serve to re lieve the strain upon the rungs 11, as will be readily understood.

The only rung which is under stress, is that particular rung upon which the person using the ladder stands. As this rung is reinforced in its interior by the cables, as shown in Fig. 4:, the rung will not be likely to become broken through standing upon the same. I'Iowever, if the strain of the cables was brought upon the rung, the rung would be likely to break, outwardly. The strain, however, is carried by the links 27, and the rungs may be fashioned from wood or other material, thereby decreasing the weight 01 the ladder. Each rung is strained by the weight of one person only, and therefore may be made correspoiulingly light. If the links 27 were not provided, presupposing that five or six persons were standing upon the ladder, the rungs adjacent the upper end of the ladder would receive the entire load which the ladder supported. Owing to the "fact that the links 27 are located at the ends of the rungs, it is not necessary to reinforce the rungs by circumscribing bands or the like. The rungs, therefore, present an unbroken surface, adapted to receive either the hand or the foot of the person ascending the ladder.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A ladder comprising rungs having end walls, each of which end walls is provided with a pair of openingsgand cables crossed within each rung and extended outwardly through the openings to form the stiles of the ladder, the cables fitting closely in the openings.

2. A ladder consisting of tubular rungs; cables extended through the rungs to form the stiles of the ladder; and links surrounding the cables only, and engaging the cables at the ends of the rungs.

3. A ladder comprising tubular rungs; cables extended through the rungs in opposite directions, and crossed within the rungs, the cables constituting the stiles of the ladder; secur' 1g members extending through the cables transversely, adjacent the ends of the rungs, the extremities of-the securing members being wound about the cables and being inserted within the rungs, the securing members constituting means for preventing relative movement between the rungs and the cables; links surrounding the cables transversely, beyond the securing members, the links constituting means for relieving the strains upon the rungs.

4. A ladder comprising tubular rungs having openings in their end Walls; cables extended through the openings, and crossed within the rungs, the cables constituting the stiles of the ladder; securing members uniting the cables adjacent the ends of the rungs, the securing members constituting means for preventing movement of the rungs upon the cables; and links surrounding the cables transversely, beyond the securing elements, the links constituting means for relieving the strain upon the rungs.

5. A ladder comprising rungs having end walls, each of which end walls is provided with a pair of openings; cables crossed within each rung and extended outwardly through the openings toform the stiles of the ladder, the cables fitting closely in the openings; and links surrounding the cables and. abutting against the end walls of the rungs,

In testimony thatl claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto ailixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

invm n. sneer.

lVitnesses:

C. B. H. OBER, H. K. Oman.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the domrnissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

